The People Make the Pearl

Some views of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, as well as a glimpse of Lake Victoria, which is near Entebbe Airport.

I don't care what tribe you belong to,

For as long as the Calvary's there,

If you feel like I feel down in my heart,

My brother (or sister), I'll give you a hug!

This is the song I was welcomed to Africa with by an incredible group of people in Uganda. Everyone in the room went around singing this welcome song to one another and greeting each other with a hug. It felt like a taste of heaven to watch people from Uganda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, New Zealand, South Sudan, South Africa, and the United States interacting with one another as family, the family of God. This moment characterizes my trip to Uganda, "the Pearl of Africa," in that it was a glimpse into God's heart for His people around the world.

We had almost thirty leaders attending the Mobilize 2025 training in Mukono, Uganda! The African Village Hotel was a beautiful and comfortable facility for our meetings. No, those giraffes are not real, but underneath it are (left to right) the International Director of the ISMT program, the President of BCM International, the new Africa Coordinator of the ISMT Program, and the Regional Director for Africa and Asia.

Part 1: Mobilize Uganda (05/07-05/09)

After 22 hours of travel, I joined our BCM team in Mukono, Uganda at a beautiful retreat center called "The African Village Hotel." There, several of our BCM missionaries were leading a training for about thirty children's ministry leaders from throughout East Africa. Mobilize is a top-tier training in BCM's In Step with the Master Teacher training program (ISMT). This program equips leaders to train Sunday School teachers in how to teach and minister effectively to children.

While there, I had the privilege of being welcomed into the BCM Africa family and listening to the stories of those who were there. Several of the leaders in attendance over see the children's ministry programs for the whole of their denomination, others advocated for children on television in their country, one was running children's ministry trainings in hunting and gathering nomad communities, and another was running trainings in the midst of a war zone and risked his well-being coming to the training. During the Mobilize Training, I had the joy of getting to know Pauline Mwangi, who was appointed the ISMT Coordinator for all of the African Continent during the week.

I jokingly told another American missionary who was there with me, that my only job during Mobilize was to make friends. His response was "Oh, that's easy here! They're incredible people!" And he was so right. I was so blessed by this wonderful team of leaders over the course of a few short days!

Part 2: Official BCM Uganda Events (05/11-05/12)

Many ministry leaders from throughout Kampala came together for a missions conference. After the conference, the international team met with the BCM Uganda board of directors to share all that God is doing globally and in Uganda with one another.

After the Mobilize Training came to an end, the Director of BCM Uganda was hosting a Missions Conference for ministry leaders from a variety of organizations throughout the Kampala area. We had the privilege of hearing from Retired Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, a devout evangelical leader within the Anglican church of Uganda, along with two other key leaders within Uganda, and BCM International's own President, Rick Rhoads. I had the chance to meet several influential leaders from throughout Kampala. One man in particular is looking to partner with BCM as a beta tester for the Global Education Department's ministry curriculum and work with us on its development. It was wonderful to hear how God is working through a number of ministries throughout Uganda!

After the conference, I, along with my teammates from the international office, met with the board of BCM Uganda to share all that God is doing. I had a chance to share about some of the plans for the Global Education department during this time. Several members of the board were very excited by the ministry, and they shared with me some of what they have been trying to do within Uganda to prepare and equip ministry leaders in the areas of Bible, Theology, and Ministry Skills. They feel the need for pastors and ministry leaders who are trained in their context, and they had already been working through the question of how to train them well even before my trip was planned.

I'm so honored to have been part of this think tank! Leaders from a variety of countries, experiences, and areas of expertise came together to think through the needs of Pastors and Ministry Leader in Africa, and to brainstorm how to meet them well. God used the discussions in so many wonderful ways!

Part 3: Ministry Training Think Tank (05/12-05/13)

After the board meetings, finished, I began the main reason for my trip to Uganda: the Think Tank.

As I mentioned in my last update, one of the biggest projects of my department is developing a curriculum to train pastors and ministry leaders of the world who don't have access to traditional Bible colleges and seminaries. The purpose of this think tank was to think through the hurdles that stop ministry leaders from accessing traditional education, and to think through how to account for those hurdles in what we create. God repeatedly and abundantly blessed our conversations.

The first day, we focused on examining where things are as a starting point. The Director of BCM Uganda, Joshua Anguyo, led a discussion about the gaps in theological education in East Africa. We particularly realized that almost no institutions teach anything on children in their curriculum, which means that many leaders see children more as a nuisance than an opportunity. I then led a discussion after that mapping out society in East Africa where I learned about the infrastructure, systems, and laws of the area, as well as some of the sin pitfalls common to the country. From there, as a group, we identified the key difficulties we'll need to work around and the key topics we'll need to address in the training.

The second day, we focused on what topics/sessions need to be part of the curriculum. We examined everything from the overarching story of the Bible, to basic theology, to social topics like homosexuality and witchcraft, to teaching and counseling skills, to the importance of children in the church, just to name a few.

One of the gentlemen there serves in South Sudan where rebel groups are consistently posing a threat to the country's stability. He helped us to make sure that whatever we discussed would be helpful and accessible in the most difficult countries where there is no WiFi or even phone service due to the civil war and the continued unrest even now. Each of the leaders who were part of the think tank also shared personal stories and experiences that I needed to hear. Hearing their hearts, perspectives, insights and experiences was both helpful and a personal blessing!

The days were long and the conversations were deep, and I can already see some of the fruits of these meetings! After the think-tank days, it because clear to me that the Uganda team will likely play a key role in the development and testing of this training program, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in the years to come!

I had the chance to observe Dr. Thomas, teach a course in Spiritual Formation at Glad Tidings Bible College in Kampala, Uganda. It was so helpful to observe how teaching and classroom dynamics work in a culture different from my own.

Part 4: Observing a Class at Glad Tiding Bible College (05/14-05/15)

One of my roles involves overseeing any partnerships BCM International has with formal education institutions like Bible Colleges, Seminaries, etc. For this reason, the final part of this trip was also vital: observing a Ugandan Bible College class. One of our South African missionaries, Dr. Thomas, was part of the think tank, but in the evenings he also taught a class on Spiritual Formation at Glad Tidings Bible College in Kampala. I had the opportunity to observe his class two of the evenings. It was a joy to be back in a classroom setting! (You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher!) It was also extremely helpful to observe an African academic teaching African students in an African classroom. I was able to observe everything from teaching styles, to teacher-student dynamics, to resources, to location. While the formal education side of BCM is still growing, I know that this opportunity will be extremely helpful in the years to come!

Final Reflections:

As I was saying goodbye to a Ugandan friend, he said to be "Come back home soon, for you have family here." While I left Uganda physically exhausted after a long week, my heart was full and my soul was praising God for all He did through the time there!

Winston Churchill may have dubbed Uganda "the Pearl of Africa" for its natural beauty and resources, but having visited for a little over a week, I'm convinced he was wrong. Even though the country is beautiful, I think what truly makes it so precious is its people.

PS. In case you were wondering, Ugandan food is absolutely delicious!

A traditional meal consists of a braised or roasted meat (in this case beef with a savory peanut sauce) with a variety of sides. Here I was served squash, rice, cassava, potatoes, collard greens and mtooki (mashed green bananas steamed in banana leaves). The second picture was my breakfast at one of the hotels where I stayed. That morning I enjoyed beans, eggs with spinach, potatoes, roti, a banana, passion fruit juice, and masala chai tea. Needless to say, I was spoiled by the wonderful food!

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Prayers and Praises:

Partnership Development (Support-Raising):

• Praise God that I am up to 23% funding! God has been faithfully bringing partners to be who are committed to pray and provide as I'm on this journey

• Pray that God will continue to make His will clear throughout this process.

• Pray that God will lead me to those He has planned for me to partner with.

Uganda Trip:

• Pray for the Anguyo family who lost family members in a tragic motorcycle accident.

• Pray for the Lead Trainers who graduated from Mobilize that they will be kingdom catalysts in the area of children's ministry throughout East Africa and beyond!

• Pray for continued conversations surrounding the pastoral training curriculum that we are design both at the national level in Uganda, and at the international level within the Global Education Department.

• Praise God for productive conversations and experiences that will inform this upcoming curriculum project!

Family and Church:

• Pray for my family as we grieve the loss of my grandmother, Sandy Barber.

• Pray for gospel opportunities with the children and teens we work with at church.

Upcoming Trip Dates: 

Current Support: 23%